Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - I need a pick-up truck ASAP. I've never owned a car, have no credit, 21 years old.

CityOfAngels · 12-07-2005, 02:14 PM

Thanks for your replies!

I would get a co-signer, but both of my parents have had horrible credit all throughout my lifetime. As for other family members, I'm not really sure who would be willing to co-sign with me.

I'm in California. I've been told by various people both yes and no. Some say they had to back-up and parallel park in their test, some say they haven't. It's about 50/50 on that one. I know I seriously need to practice my backing-up at least. I've had the chance to practice it about twice, and although I didn't hit anything each time, nor did I come close to it, I was still very nervous, cautious, and therefore slow. Given the current street I live on is so narrow, knowing how to parallel park efficiently would make life a heck of a lot easier.

Ah, how could I forget newspaper ads? Thanks for that tip. :P Never heard of VIN but I'm sure after some google searching I'll be more educated on that subject.

What's the standard practice in having a mechanic look at the vehicle? Do I 'borrow' the vehicle and take it to a mechanic? Do I let the seller take it in and trust whatever paperwork he/she brings back? Or do I have to bring the mechanic to the car? I was never sure how that worked.

I've been debating whether or not to go through a dealership. Thing is I'm looking for something as inexpensive as possible, but is not a lemon. Dealerships in my area are notorious for selling lemons, and I'm sure just about every dealership has inflated prices. So many options; none of them are as efficient as I want them to be.

I've decided on a truck because I work for a property management company. Going in with my friend, my options were limited to what he wanted to do at the time. I hate to say it, but my friend is an uber-slacker, and we've been coming short on some of our jobs because he likes to take 2 and a half hours to go pick up a broom, which is just down the street, and other crap like that. We don't really have supervision (most of the time), so even though he gets away with it, his lack of work reflects badly upon ME. With a pickup, not only will I be able to go get supplies when need be, but I'll be able to carry just about everything I need for each job, whether it be a powerwasher, broom, shovel, ladder; whatever. Also, I'll be able to finish jobs on my time, and be able to call in when I'm done and ask if anything else needs to be done, increasing my reliability.

I guess I want a truck so I'm not stuck as just a powerwasher. I'll be able to do demolitions, construction, and other stuff. My ultimate goal is to learn as much as I can with this job, become known as reliable in what I do, and hopefully make more money because of it. Even though I was able to get to the job with my friend, I was stuck as a powerwasher, or a sander, or whatever HE was doing at the time. I felt stuck; and with him not pulling his fair share and all, I was being made to look bad. It was pretty much the opposite of why I started working there in the first place.

12-07-2005, 02:14 PM	#5 (permalink)
CityOfAngels Oh shit it's Wayne Brady! Location: Passenger seat of Wayne Brady's car.	Thanks for your replies! I would get a co-signer, but both of my parents have had horrible credit all throughout my lifetime. As for other family members, I'm not really sure who would be willing to co-sign with me. I'm in California. I've been told by various people both yes and no. Some say they had to back-up and parallel park in their test, some say they haven't. It's about 50/50 on that one. I know I seriously need to practice my backing-up at least. I've had the chance to practice it about twice, and although I didn't hit anything each time, nor did I come close to it, I was still very nervous, cautious, and therefore slow. Given the current street I live on is so narrow, knowing how to parallel park efficiently would make life a heck of a lot easier. Ah, how could I forget newspaper ads? Thanks for that tip. :P Never heard of VIN but I'm sure after some google searching I'll be more educated on that subject. What's the standard practice in having a mechanic look at the vehicle? Do I 'borrow' the vehicle and take it to a mechanic? Do I let the seller take it in and trust whatever paperwork he/she brings back? Or do I have to bring the mechanic to the car? I was never sure how that worked. I've been debating whether or not to go through a dealership. Thing is I'm looking for something as inexpensive as possible, but is not a lemon. Dealerships in my area are notorious for selling lemons, and I'm sure just about every dealership has inflated prices. So many options; none of them are as efficient as I want them to be. I've decided on a truck because I work for a property management company. Going in with my friend, my options were limited to what he wanted to do at the time. I hate to say it, but my friend is an uber-slacker, and we've been coming short on some of our jobs because he likes to take 2 and a half hours to go pick up a broom, which is just down the street, and other crap like that. We don't really have supervision (most of the time), so even though he gets away with it, his lack of work reflects badly upon ME. With a pickup, not only will I be able to go get supplies when need be, but I'll be able to carry just about everything I need for each job, whether it be a powerwasher, broom, shovel, ladder; whatever. Also, I'll be able to finish jobs on my time, and be able to call in when I'm done and ask if anything else needs to be done, increasing my reliability. I guess I want a truck so I'm not stuck as just a powerwasher. I'll be able to do demolitions, construction, and other stuff. My ultimate goal is to learn as much as I can with this job, become known as reliable in what I do, and hopefully make more money because of it. Even though I was able to get to the job with my friend, I was stuck as a powerwasher, or a sander, or whatever HE was doing at the time. I felt stuck; and with him not pulling his fair share and all, I was being made to look bad. It was pretty much the opposite of why I started working there in the first place.